Jewish Baltimorean Adam Meister helped open a new physical space for Jewish students at the University of Utah through Chabad last month.
“I really love Salt Lake City. I think the Jewish community should expand here,” Meister, who has spent years traveling around the world, told Baltimore Jewish Times.
The Mel Meister Chabad Lounge, named after Adam Meister’s father, hosted its grand opening on Sept. 3. In attendance were University President Taylor Randall and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, in addition to over 100 members of the community, according to Chabad Lubavitch.
“I [named the lounge] after my glorious father, because I love my father so much, and he did care about education,” said Meister. “He gave us the best education we could get.”
Meister’s mother, Ilene, told Baltimore Jewish Times that the Chabad lounge was the perfect way to honor her husband.
“My husband has always valued education,” she said.
Meister, who had been traveling around the world for more than a decade, said his inspiration for helping to establish a physical space for the Chabad, which sits right next to the campus, came after his father’s passing in 2018.
“When my father died in 2018 and I would have to say Kaddish every day, I could only be in a few cities in the entire world where [I would have enough people for] a minyan,” said Meister. “I could be in Baltimore, Israel, New York, Los Angeles and probably Miami.”
The mourner’s Kaddish is recited by a mourning child every day for the 11 months following a parent’s death. Meister had to cut down on his travel to ensure that he could have a minyan in which to pray every day.
“You might not be able to find a minyan every day to pray,” said Meister. “You never know when you’re going to have to say Kaddish one day. That’s a scary thing to think of. I don’t wish it upon any of the students. But if they can help a guy who’s traveling through Salt Lake City who needs to say Kaddish, that’s a really nice thing to do … and I want to provide that.”
Ilene Meister, who worked as the director for early childhood at the JCC of Greater Baltimore for 20 years, said she hopes that Jewish high school graduates will consider the University of Utah when looking at colleges.
“It has a strong hub on campus now, and a place for them, the kids, to congregate,” she said. “There’s food always there for them, and the few events that they’ve had since they’ve opened have been well received.”
Meister said he hopes the opening of the lounge will inspire Jewish parents from the East Coast to feel comfortable sending their kids to Salt Lake City for university.
“I want Jewish people to move to … Salt Lake City, and to really put this on their radar, and to put it on their kids’ radars,” said Meister. “[The opening of the lounge is meant to] be a spark to make Jewish parents, specifically from the East Coast — because that’s where I’m from — to feel comfortable sending their kids to University of Utah, and at the same time providing a really cool place to hang out for Jewish students at the University of Utah and for the community in Salt Lake City.”
Meister said the Chabad lounge includes a kitchen, comfortable seating, a gaming console and more.
“I met a young rabbi here, who was in charge of what they call the Chabad on Campus, but they didn’t have a [physical] place, so I thought we could get creative and rent a place. And it took us about a year to find a place, but we found a place,” Meister explained. “I thought me making it possible for the University of Utah, Chabad on Campus, to physically exist would be something that would attract more Jewish students, because there are not that many Jewish students. You know, Jewish people on the East Coast, they don’t think about the University of Utah, but maybe now they will.”
